I barely had eight hours of sleep before the rays of the sun washed over my face, waking me up. Groaning, I pulled up my blanket to shield my eyes from the bright light.

"Amelia, wake up." A hand landed on the side of my pillow and pulled it away swiftly. My head thunked on the bed.

I peeked at my roommate with tired eyes. "But I want to sleep. . ."

Athena took off my blanket, exposing me in my plain pajamas. "As much as I want to disagree with my mother, I don't want you to start whining about how fed up you are with catching up with things. Get your lazy ass out of the bed."

I groaned again. She's right. As much as I wanted to sleep more, I had to catch up with my classes like Rhea said. I don't want to go through the same exhausting catching-up-of-classes cycle all over again.

Slapping my face awake, I stood up from my bed and did my usual morning routine of freshening myself up, but at a much slower pace. I eventually finished and went out of the dorm, leaving Athena to herself. I glanced at the clock hanging in the dorm lobby as I passed by.

Oh great. There's ten minutes left before the first period starts. I don't have the time to stop by the dining hall. Maybe I'll buy a bite on the go then.

And I did. As I munched on my egg sandwich while walking, the image of Pierre suddenly popped in my head. That thought almost got me choking on my food.

Shoot. What am I going to tell him this time? I left him alone in the library just like that, even though I made up some stupid excuse. I think if I made another one in front of him later, maybe he won't believe me and start getting suspicious. If he isn't already.

What if. . . I told him the truth?

Wait, no! That's definitely out of the question! But I don't want to lie to him again. I'm not being a good friend and person by doing that.

Maybe I should tell him a part of the truth instead! By leaving out the unbelievable parts, he shouldn't get fishy about me. That'll be much easier!

I hope.

Soon enough, I arrived in my classroom as the bell rang. I scanned the room and there he was, sitting on his usual seat in the middle of the room.

I was about to step in when I noticed something weird about him. As I looked closer at where he was, the aura surrounding him felt. . . gloomy. While he hunched on his seat, some of my classmates avoided walking or sitting near him, as if he had gotten the plague. A dark hoodie hid almost half of his face, making him look even more menacing.

Is he okay?

Pierre glanced up. I froze in my place. Instead of looking at me oddly, his face lightened up.

"Amelia!" He stood up, his hoodie falling down.

I smiled awkwardly. "H-hey, what's up?"

"Where have you been?" He asked. "It's been, like, three days? What happened to you?"

"Well, um. . ." I slowly came over to him. "I was. . . T-there was an emergency and I had to go to Italy. . ."

"Italy? That far?" His eyes widened. "What was it for?"

"Um. The Olympian siblings had to take me along to some sort of. . . trip." I fiddled nervously with my hands. "It was really important, so I had to leave so soon. Sorry for ditching you in the library like that. I'll still treat you in the dining hall just like I promised, okay?"

"No, it's okay. Leaving me in the library, I mean," he said. "The treat would be nice though."

"Yeah. . ."

"By the way, did you know about the eruption of that volcano, Mount Vesuvius, in Italy?" he asked. "I think it was in a city called Naples. . . Did you see the thing erupt?"

"Um, yeah," I replied. "It was really crazy. The thick smoke, the glowing lava. . ."

"I know, right? I heard it wasn't supposed to erupt or something," he said. "The news said it was supposed to be asleep and— Wait a minute. Did you go, by any chance, to Naples?"

I paused.

Shoot. My idea isn't working. What should I do?

"I-I. . . Um—"

In the nick of time, our History teacher walked in. As we hurriedly settled in our seats, I sighed in relief.

This was the first time I was actually glad that class started.

Since then, classes went smoothly. Pierre didn't ask any more questions, but I was the one to ask instead. He helped me with some of the stuff I was missing out on during the classes we were together in.

At lunch, we headed to the dining hall, and like I promised, I treated him with whatever he wanted. For the sake of being polite, I told him he could pick anything he wanted even if I couldn't afford half of the food they were selling, but he only settled for a slice of chocolate cake for dessert.

With a fork, Pierre took a bite on his treat. "Hmm. . . This is good."

"I'm glad you like it," I said, sipping on my soda. "Are you sure you don't want anything else?"

"Yeah, definitely sure." He wiped a chocolate stain from his cheek. "I don't really have much of a sweet tooth, even though my mom literally raised me on a lot of halo-halo and leche flan."

I blinked in confusion.

"Sorry, those are Filipino desserts I'm talking about," he chuckled. "Anyway, would you like some cake?"

Smiling, I shook my head. "No, thanks. It's yours, just enjoy it."

"Okay, then." He chucked another piece of cake into his mouth.

We both ate in comfortable silence until our plates were licked clean. As soon as Pierre finished his food, he turned to his pocket and took out something from it.

"What's that?"

He placed a fist on the table. "It's a little something I had while you were away. Do you wanna see?"

"Sure, why not?"

He slowly opened his palm, revealing a silver bracelet with the shiniest gem I've ever seen. The jewel looked like the clear night sky captured in a tear-shaped rock, while the chain of the bracelet was made of small loops tied to each other.

My jaw went slack. "Wow. . . This is. . . wow."

"Is the gem too small?" he asked. "Or maybe the silver chain is too big. I guess I should've adjusted that. . ."

"Are you kidding? This is absolutely beautiful!" I exclaimed. "Where did you get this from?"

Pierre scratched his head. "Well, you might not believe me, but. . . I made it."

"What? By yourself?" My eyes widened in amazement. "Are you serious right now? This looks like something I'll see in a jewelry shop! And it'll be one of the expensive ones!"

"Thanks," he said, smiling. "Do you. . . do you want it?"

"I. . . What?"

He pushed the bracelet towards me. "Here you go."

"W-wait! I can't just take this!" I pushed the bracelet back to him. "It's too precious!"

"Come on. It's no big deal, Amelia." He grabbed my hand and put it on my palm, closing it in. "It's a gift for you."

"Really? A-are you sure?"

He nodded eagerly. "I'm sure, sure. Wear it."

I picked up the bracelet and strapped it onto my right wrist. The azure gem glittered as I moved my hand around.

"It's gorgeous," I said as I admired its beauty. "Pierre, thank you so much for this."

Pierre smiled. "I figured it would fit with your necklace. Their colors don't match, but they both look good on you anyway."

I felt heat rushing on my cheeks. "You think so?"

"Yeah."

My hand found its way to my neck, tracing for my necklace but felt none. Confused, I glanced down my shirt and looked for it.

"Where is it?" I patted my hands around myself, panic slowly building up inside me.

Pierre tilted his head. "What's wrong?"

"My necklace. . . I-it's not here!" My eyes darted around the place, searching for my lost accessory.

He began looking around as well. "Maybe you left it in the dorm or something?"

I shook my head. "That's impossible! I always wear it wherever I go!"

"Okay. . . Let's just look around for it," he said. "Maybe its chain got broken and the necklace fell down somewhere and someone picked it up."

A feeling of dread set in my stomach. "I-I hope so too."

Nothing. Just nothing.

Pierre and I searched the entire school for my necklace. Twice. It took us the whole afternoon to look for it, forcing me to skip the same classes I was supposed to catch up with. When we weren't able to find it at the end of lunch break, I told Pierre he could go to his next period while I continued my search. But like the good friend that he was, he insisted that he would help me look for it, which I was thankful for.

We searched the classrooms and bathrooms, the large library, both the girls' and boys' dorms, separately of course, and even the bushes in the damn garden but there was no sign of it at all. We even asked every single person we passed by, but no one saw a necklace with a violet pendant.

After our long afternoon, we finally stopped and rested by the garden. The two of us sat at one of the benches with tired legs and faces drenched in sweat.

"I can't believe I lost my necklace," I muttered. "I'm so careless. . ."

"Hey, don't worry too much," Pierre said, putting an arm around me. "We'll find it soon, we just have to look harder."

"Thanks for helping me, Pierre, but let's just call it a day for now." I sighed. "Losing it was stupid of me. I'm supposed to keep it near me at all times because it's—"

I paused.

"Because what?" he asked, curious. "Because it's important?"

"Um, yeah. . ." I nodded slowly. "I was going to say that. . ."

I mentally sighed in relief. I was about to say it was a magic amulet or something, but thank goodness I stopped myself.

"I definitely get it." Pierre gave me a knowing look. "It was a gift from your parents, right?"

"Yeah, but technically it was from my dad," I said. "My mom wasn't alive by the time the necklace was given to me, so. . ."

"Oh." He turned to the plants nearby. "I. . . could make you a necklace if it would make you feel better. That way it'll match with the bracelet I just gave you."

"What? N-no!" I stammered. "I mean, I'm sure you'll create an even prettier necklace and all, but I-I don't want to give up on my lost necklace just yet."

"Right, right." He rubbed his nape. "Sorry, that was kinda insensitive of me."

"No, it's fine." I waved my hand. "Not a big deal."

Pierre shifted his weight to his side of the bench, leaving a wider gap between us. I stared at his face, his pleased expression turning a bit grim.

I moved a little closer to him. "Hey. . . Are you okay?"

He looked up. "What?"

"You seemed bothered by something," I said. "Earlier in the morning, you also looked kinda, um, sad too. . . Is there a problem?"

My friend averted his gaze. "No. I-I was just thinking of something important."

"Okay. . . Will you mind sharing it to me?"

He blew out a sigh. "So, uh. . . I've been meaning to tell you something. I-it's been happening for a while now but I couldn't tell anyone because I thought no one would believe me."

"And?" I gestured for him to go on.

"And since you were the closest I got as a friend, I want to tell you about it." He swallowed. "I. . . swear I can't keep this up for much longer. It will kill me inside if I don't let it out."

Gosh, this sounds serious. Definitely serious.

"Don't worry, you can tell me." I gave him a reassuring smile. "I'm all ears."

He took a deep breath. "There's this thing where I—"

Our conversation was interrupted by a loud ringing coming from my pocket. Pierre and I paused there for a second too long before he nodded at the phone ringing.

Reluctantly, I pressed my phone's screen on and Uncle Ben's caller ID popped up.

"Uncle Ben?" I mumbled under my breath.

"Who's that?" Pierre asked.

I glanced at him. "Oh, um, it's my uncle. I'll have to take this call."

"S-sure. I'll be right here."

I walked up to a tree a few feet away from the bench. Pressing the green 'Answer' button, I put the phone on my ear.

"Hey, Uncle Ben. What's up?"

"Are you Amelia Kingston?" A husky male voice asked.

My eyebrows furrowed.

"Yes, that's me," I replied, my tone suspicious. "Who are you, and why are you using my uncle's phone?"

"Miss Kingston, I'm Officer Williams," the man said. "I'll have to ask you to come to the city police station if you don't mind."

"Why, w-what's wrong?"

"It's about your relative Benjamin Miller."

My mouth went dry at the mention of my uncle's full name. "Is he alright? What happened to him?"

"I will explain, but you'll have to come to the station first."

"N-no!" I yelled. "You tell me first what the hell happened to my uncle!"

I heard the man sigh from the other side. "I'm. . . sorry to tell you this, Miss Kingston, but your uncle is missing."

My grip on my phone loosened for a second, almost falling from my grasp. As I adjusted my hold on my phone, my lips began to quiver.

"No, no. . ." Tears threatened to fall from my eyes. "That's not true! I just saw him a f-few weeks ago and he was fine!"

"That's just it, miss," the police officer said. "He's been missing for almost three weeks, and you're the one who last saw him before he disappeared."